Principal Wood And The Manifest Spirits
by mispel
Summary: Lessons revisited. How the spirits came to haunt the school. Principal Wood’s real involvement and Spike's contribution.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Principal Wood And The Manifest Spirits Of Sunnydale High

Author: mispel

E-mail: mispel@email.com

Rating: PG

Summary: Lessons revisited. The truth about how the 'zombies' came to haunt the school and Spike and Wood's involvement in their appearance. Ch 1: Xander tries to make sure that the new school is safe. Wood finds the basement irresistible. Spike donates blood.

Spoilers: season 7

Disclaimer: I own none of it. Joss, ME and Fox own all

Feedback: Any comments would be welcome.

A/N: I thought there were some things than needed explaining. I tried not to make this repetitive. Scenes that are not in the fic happened as they did on the show. The timeline is a tiny bit different.

Principal Wood And The Manifest Spirits Of Sunnydale High

Chapter 1

It was so noisy at the construction site that Xander couldn't understand a word anyone said to him. Voices just blended into the rumble that shook the ground as big machines did their work. He nodded absently as one of his guys said something he couldn't hear. His eyes were drawn to the school. It looked very white. He wondered if they had put on another coat of paint. It seemed to shimmer. Xander thought it might be the hot air rippling. But then the school started to vibrate. The rumbling became deafening and the school shook. Xander watched the new Sunnydale High School sink into the ground. From where he stood he could make out the screaming faces of students in the windows. 

Xander sat up in bed and pushed off the covers. He was sweating. Getting up, he swore and went to get a glass of ice water. 

The school stood newly painted, shining in the sun. 

"What on the Hellmouth were they thinking?" Buffy wondered.

It looked nice and new but there was still the same, old Hellmouth underneath it. 

"I can't believe I'm letting Dawn go to Hellmouth High."

"You can always home school her," Xander joked.

Buffy looked at him. It was going to be only a scathing glance, but he was wearing the hardhat and looking over some plans, all businesslike. So she stared at him for a second. He looked so adult, the working guy. Sometimes people came up to him to ask him questions and he knew the answers. He sounded different when he talked to them. He used different words. And his voice might have been a little deeper.

"So nothing weird and spooky in there."

"Nothing that wasn't there already," Xander told her without taking his eyes off the plans.

Buffy frowned not feeling very reassured. 

"I'll be getting some more plans, just to make sure. Don't want Dawny falling into a big sinkhole."

A passing truck drowned out his last words. It stirred the air and the building plans fluttered like they were going to fly away.

As he watched Buffy walk away, Xander wondered if he did any good there. Well, other than make bucketfuls of money. Was this school any safer than the old one? The basement was bothering him. There was no new construction there, so he had outdated plans. 

At least one of the workers had gotten lost down there. He claimed that the walls moved. But he was known to have a gin and sandwich for lunch. 

"Why is it always the people with below zero credibility who see all the weirdness?"

Xander looked at the plans then turned them upside down and every other way he could think of. He found nothing. His gut told him that something was there. It also told him to eat the Doritos in his lunch box, but he told it, "no, you're not the boss of me." He looked over at the building. It would be filled with students - new backpacks, hundred dollar sneakers, passing through metal detectors and straight over the Hellmouth. Xander tried not to think about his dream.

Principal Wood walked through the empty halls of his new school, his footsteps echoing. He was the youngest principal in the state, maybe in the country. As he passed a classroom window, he saw his reflection. He was certainly the best looking. He made a motion as if to straighten his suit but there was no need - it fell perfectly. Smiling, he walked on enjoying the new, still unsullied interior. He smelled the strong smell of a new building - paint, lumber, plaster. He tried not to think of what lay below.

It was no use. Tomorrow, the halls would be swarming with students and Wood was no closer to figuring out the basement of his own school. He had walked cautiously, observed carefully, marked his path, drawn maps. All for nothing. The passages drew him in, took him where they wanted, or got him lost and then let him leave. It didn't do any good trying to be logical and methodical. He was dealing with unnatural forces and they only answered to their like. 

"She can't see you like this." 

Spike looked at a wall. He could see himself in it like it was a mirror. Maybe it wasn't him. How could he be sure? It could be anyone. 

"Walls aren't mirrors. You have to fix yourself up," he told his reflection.

He turned away from the wall and then noticed something in his hand.

"Where did you come from?"

He laughed raising the knife to his face.

"We're old friends. You'll help me, won't you?"

Spike smiled at the shiny blade. 

"I'll be a good boy, you just do your thing, pal."

He walked out of the room and through the basement halls. There was noise sometimes, maybe it came from his head, maybe it was outside. 

"That's what happens when you split your head open. You can't tell out from in. Things spill out."

Spike walked until he came to a large room. It was the spot. But when he got close to the center, there was so much pain in his head he backed up.

He started cutting. 

"Cut deep, dig it all out. Nothing to fear. Nothing to worry about."

The blood dripped over the blade, down his chest and to the dirt-covered floor.

Principal Wood had some time before the ribbon cutting ceremony. He took a deep breath as he stepped through the door to the basement. He kept his eyes open, trying to see in all directions at once. It happened fast - he took a turn left and then another left and he was lost. When he tried to retrace his steps, he found that the turns just weren't there.

"Promising career cut short, youngest principal in the country gets himself lost in his own basement, starves to death and is eaten by rats."

He took a turn at every corner hoping that way he wouldn't get too far from the entrance. Finally he was faced with a long stretch of corridor that only went straight. 

"Don't go into the basement. You know the handsome, black guy always gets it first," he mumbled to himself as he walked forward. 

The air was stale and a little cold. It smelled old, dank and dusty.

"Damn, I'm brave. I should get a medal," he said half sarcastically. The sound of his voice was almost like company, seeming solid in the shifty basement. 

The corridor led to a large room with dirt on the floor. There seem to be slight indentation in the middle. As he walked toward it, his foot hit something. He looked around first then got down for a good look at the object. There was a dirk stain in the dirt and right next to it a knife. He dipped a finger in the spot and then raised it to his eyes.

"Blood."

He looked around again and picked up the knife. There was blood on it as well. As the Principal peered into the corners of the room, he held the knife at the ready. There was nothing there.

When Wood stood in the center of the room, he lowered the knife. Drops of blood glided down the blade and dripped off. Wood didn't see the way they disappeared once they hit the ground.

Hearing a maniacal laugh, Wood froze. It sounded like his own voice. But it couldn't have been - someone else must be down there. He was dizzy. His eyes felt like they were filling with blood. The blood pushed against his skin like he was an overfilled balloon. He had a strong urge to use the knife to open a way out for it before his skin burst. He started to lift the knife to his wrist. Bad idea. For a moment everything looked red until he staggered away, dropping the knife. Behind him the ground shifted a little and swallowed it.

To be continued


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Principal Wood And The Manifest Spirits Of Sunnydale High

Author: mispel

E-mail: mispel@email.com

Rating: PG

Summary: Lessons revisited. The truth about how the 'zombies' came to haunt the school and Spike and Wood's involvement in their appearance. Ch 2: Buffy is unhappy about the new school. Xander interrogates an eyewitness. Wood meets spirits of schooldays past. Snyder and Ms. Calendar size up the new principal.

Spoilers: season 7

Disclaimer: I own none of it. Joss, ME and Fox own all

Feedback: Any comments would be welcome.

A/N: I filled in the blanks to try and explain a few things. I tried not to make this repetitive. Scenes that are not in the fic happened as they did on the show. The timeline is a tiny bit different.

Chapter 2

"They are undoing all our hard work," Buffy complained as she and Dawn ate lunch in the kitchen.

"That was a cool accomplishment - blowing up the school. It catapulted you from petty, gym burning delinquent to crazed bomber. And a hero to truants and school haters everywhere," Dawn said perkily.

"Giles did it, you school lover." 

Buffy pouted, feeling that all her criminal endeavors were going unappreciated. 

"Arsonist!" Dawn said, and after drinking some of her chocolate milk, she continued. "Though, burning the gym I can get behind. Phys ed sucks."

Buffy agreed but that wasn't the reason. It was war and impending apocalypse and politicians about to feast on recent graduates. 

"There were extenuating snake and vampire related circumstances. Both times," Buffy defended herself to the indifferent Dawn. 

Dawn went so far as to shrug.

"And don't get attached to the new school, miss apple polisher. The first sign of giant snake infestation and I'll have Xander take the wrecking ball to the place," Buffy finished pointing threateningly with a pickle.

But Dawn just looked down at her half-eaten sandwich with the half circle bite marks and lettuce sticking out.

"I kind of miss Doublemeat Palace," she said to Buffy's surprise.

"You were sick of it. As was I."

"It was an adventure. Chowing down on mutant meat process burgers. Never knowing what you were really eating. If with the next bite you would turn into a cannibal."

Buffy stared at Dawn as she kept looking at her sandwich wistfully.

"You'll fit right in at my old school."

Once again Wood had no idea how he had made it out of the basement. He sat in his office, his face still a little damp from the water he had splashed on it. He tired to go over what had happened. There was that sudden urge for self-mutilation and an echo of strange words in his ears. They came to him in his own voice, but he couldn't remember saying them. Once he was out of there, he discovered he had dropped the knife. He wished he had held onto it. And not for his collection. He hadn't had time for a good look, and the blood obscured the blade, but he was sure there had been something written on it. 

Wood leaned back to rest his eyes only to be startled when his cell phone rang. He groaned as he smoothed down his suit and went to the ribbon cutting ceremony.

Spike had stumbled into the room and now there was no door. He clawed at the walls frantically.

"It's not time for my burial! The priest hasn't said his prayers!"

Panicking, he circled the room. The walls were solid and wouldn't let him trough.

"I was just playing. I won't dirty Mother's clothes. Let me out, Miss," Spike pleaded. Then he collapsed. He could feel blood drying on his chest, the wound closing. He stared up, and the ceiling seemed far away.

The sun was almost blinding. The scissors were huge. Wood tried not to laugh. He felt lightheaded. Somehow he got through the speech, smiled and shook hands. 

Enjoying the first blast of air-conditioning as he walked back into the school, Wood let the doors close behind him with a whoosh and just stood there. His eyes just couldn't adjust to the artificial light. He saw spots. When they were gone, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye but there was nothing there when he turned to look. 

"I probably have sunstroke."

Keeping alert, he started toward his office. Now and then sounds would reach his ears, like raspy whispers.

While the ceremony went on in front of the school, the construction site was almost deserted. The building stopped as those workers who didn't go off to have lunch, stood around and watched the ribbon cutting. 

Xander drove to a private home that was being remodeled a few miles away. There he found the man he was looking for sitting on some bricks, eating lunch. One of the guys had told Xander that's where he had been working since he was fired.

"Hey, Tim," Xander greeted him casually.

Tim closed his thermos quickly and said, "Hey, man" with a mouth full of baloney sandwich.

"Thanks for the unobstructed view of your lunch. How are things?"

Tim grinned, half-chewed sandwich still on display.

"Good. Way more relaxed here. And they could use a good carpenter."

"Glad you like it."

Xander looked around to make sure no one was nearby.

"I wanted to ask you about the school basement."

Tim gave Xander a strange look, then he shrugged.

"I got lost. I told my ex boss already. I guess he didn't like my story," Tim said bitterly.

"Tell me about it. You said the walls moved."

Tim chuckled.

"Nah, I was just lost. That place is damn confusing."

Xander sighed. Tim took another bite of his sandwich before he was done with the first. 

Xander decided not to try to argue. He straightened and gave his voice an edge.

"Other than the moving walls, did you hear or see anything else?"

"No," Tim said uncertainly.

"What did you see?"

"I..."

Xander folded his arms over his chest and stared down at Tim then at his thermos knowing what he had in there.

"I don't want to bother you, man. Since you like this job, I hope you keep it. But I need to know what's down there," Xander said his voice stern and low.

"There's someone. I heard a voice. I called the guy, thought he might know the way out. But he was gone. That's it."

After that Tim refused to look up at Xander and focused on thoroughly chewing his lunch.

"Thanks, man," Xander said, back to a casual tone and left.

Principal Wood's office was dark. He hadn't turned the light off or closed the shades when he left. Flicking on the light switch, he opened the door slowly. There was nothing he hated more than the blink of florescent lights as they came on. They just wouldn't stop. Even through the strobe effect, he could make out someone sitting in his chair.

"I know you," Wood said to the familiar figure.

The lights came on. The room didn't look right to Wood. Everything in it seemed to have shifted a little.

"Principal Snyder, deceased," Wood said.

"That's very good, you get a gold star."

Snyder's raspy voice was pure sarcasm. The man was dressed in a once cheap, off the rack suit now falling apart at the seams. The top of his head was a seeping wound, the skin curled down to his face. The face looked like it had been dipped in acid. 

"Nothing like the first day of school. The smell of fear, and the terror. Ahh, good times."

"What are you doing here?" Wood asked.

"You didn't really expect me to miss it, did you?" 

"I kind of did." 

The thing stood up and moved around the office. He seemed to be appraising the decor.

"Things are changing. Even you can feel it," Snyder said as he looked around critically.

"I feel a little queasy, actually."

Snyder made his way toward Wood. Suddenly the grotesque face was inches from his. Snyder thumped him on the chest.

"This isn't your school! It's mine!"

And he was gone. 

Wood struggled for a second then started to breathe again. 

"Don't mind him," a feminine voice said and a woman appeared by his desk.

Wood just stared. The dark haired woman ran her decomposing finger over his desk. Her head sat at an odd angle.

"Do you know me too?"

"Yes. Miss Calendar."

"That's so impressive." 

Her voice was mellow and just a little husky. Her hair fell over her eyes, but Wood could make out greenish white skin, splitting over the cheek bones. 

"You know this school can be a lot of fun," she said sounding seductive.

"Why are you here?"

"For the fun. We couldn't have done it without you. I want you to remember that tomorrow. When they start dying."

She was gone just like Snyder.

Wood slumped with the closed door against his back. 

"Damn. What the hell did I stumble into?"

He remembered the blood and the knife from the basement. Wood went to his computer and started searching. He was at it for hours before he found the answer. Grabbing his suit jacket, noting that he had wrinkled it, he was out the door. 

To be continued


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Principal Wood And The Manifest Spirits Of Sunnydale High

Author: mispel

E-mail: mispel@email.com

Rating: PG

Summary: Lessons revisited. The truth about how the 'zombies' came to haunt the school and Spike and Wood's involvement in their appearance. Ch 3: Everyone has plans for the night before the first day of school. Xander engages in criminal activity. Wood engages in dark rituals. Buffy tries to prepare Dawn for a life of scarves and turtlenecks. Spike spies on Wood.

Spoilers: season 7

Disclaimer: I own none of it. Joss, ME and Fox own all

Feedback: Any comments would be welcome.

A/N: I filled in the blanks to try and explain a few things. I tried not to make this repetitive. Scenes that are not in the fic happened as they did on the show. The timeline is a tiny bit different. Here the training through biting happens on the night before school starts.

Chapter 3

It was night and Xander walked through the debris that was the usual ground cover at a construction site. Trying to be quiet, he was careful not to step on anything that would make a racket and draw attention. There was a guard around somewhere keeping out the thieves and vandals. Xander realized that he fell into the thief category. Despite that, he felt an urge to obey the sign and put on a hardhat. But bright yellow headgear wasn't really the thing for inconspicuous breaking and entering. 

The lock on the door of the construction office wasn't much and Xander had the tools to deal with it. Once inside, he used the flashlight and searched through all the neatly filed plans. He found the ones he needed rolled them up and put them under his jacket. He hoped to return them after he checked them over.

"You've really been stepping up the training, what gives?" Dawn asked as she walked through the cemetery, next to Buffy.

"School starts tomorrow."

Buffy didn't even look at Dawn as she gave her the short and to the point answer. Dawn noticed that tonight Buffy was more no-nonsense than usual. She seemed to be looking very intently at the graves.

"Do I get to kill a vamp tonight?" Dawn asked eagerly.

"That will be up to you."

"Really? Then lets go for it."

"That's not what I meant."

Buffy still didn't look at her. They stopped by a fresh grave and Buffy dropped the bag of weapons.

She turned to Dawn. For a second she just looked at her.

"You know, I would never let anything happen to you."

"Yeah," Dawn said as she smiled and rolled her eyes. 

Buffy just looked serious.

"But I won't always be around."

"That's why we have the training."

"Right. We're on the same page. Good."

Buffy turned back to the grave as Dawn looked at her wondering what was up.

Principal Wood steeled himself as he walked through the school halls. It was completely dark except for the red glow of the exit signs. When he tried to turn on the lights, nothing happened. He turned on his flashlight and moved quickly.

His research wasn't complete but he gathered that somehow, through no fault of his own, he had accidentally taken part in a ritual to raise malicious spirits that could take solid form. The inscription on the knife must have been a spell that was activated by blood. His research hinted at the place of concentrated evil that would allow for that ritual to be completed successfully. Wood tried not to let the honor of being principal of such a place go to his head.

Wood had to take several deep breaths before he stepped trough the basement door. He wedged the door open behind him. He tried the light here too, but the basement stayed dark. 

He clutched the handle of the bag he carried too tightly and his hand started to hurt. He considered that maybe it wasn't the best idea to spend the night in the school doing ungodly rituals. Sure, he had a protective charm to keep the manifest spirits away. But as the darkness closed in around him, the homemade charm felt flimsy hanging on a string around his neck. Not to mention a little stinky from the dead insects that were crushed into it. It would have to be cast aside before the ritual or it would interfere with it. Then he would miss it, bug stink and all.

The door shut behind him making him jump. He didn't waste time trying to keep it open.

"It has to be done at the source," Wood reminded himself and continued into the pitch black basement.

His flashlight swerved around wildly as he tried to point it in every direction at once. He got hold of himself and started to wield the flashlight in a controlled pattern, covering the dark space from ceiling to floor and back up as he walked.

It seemed like he walked for hours, and he didn't know if he was anywhere near the large room where he had found the knife. He sighed and put the flashlight under his arm. He took the paper from his pocket. He would only have one chance at this. If he wasn't already close to the room, the paper would burn out too soon and be useless. He read the strange writing hoping that his pronunciation hadn't gotten rusty. 

"Show me the way," he said at the end, trying to sound commanding.

Then he lit a match and watched the paper burn, then waft backward and around a corner. He ran after it and he was in the big room with the dirt floor. The paper turned black and filmy as it burned out, the words glowing for a moment then disappearing. 

Buffy had turned out the light in her room. Her Mom's room. She had a feeling she wouldn't sleep tonight.

"I bet when you said to take care of Dawn, you didn't mean let her get bit by a vamp for her own good."

She lay down and thought back to the times when she and Dawn had cuddled in bed with their Mom. Her perfume still lingered somewhere in the room and stray wisps of air would bring it to her if she didn't move and held her eyes closed and just let it come to her. Like little sharp gifts. It wasn't that time yet when the memories would only be sweet to her. Every remembered moment brought with it a tightening of her chest. Maybe it was a myth that one day she could think of her Mom and feel happy. 

She sure as hell wasn't going to lose Dawn like that. She hadn't meant for her to get bitten. Seeing blood on her neck had made her want to kill the vamp all over again, and again. It had occurred to her that Dawn would walk into the school - which was basically just the Hellmouth's tea cozy - and think she could handle anything just because she had a few lessons. She had to show her her limitations. Feeling kind of sick, she had watched Dawn try to fight off the vampire. All the time hoping that Dawn would stake him even if it meant the point of Buffy's lesson would be ruined. It just didn't seem right to tear down her confidence. 

"Hey, a little less confident a little more alive, and in therapy for the rest of her life. I'm the best sister ever."

Buffy turned over and closed her eyes hoping she could trick herself into falling asleep.

It was the door. Or a mirage. Spike rushed to it feeling the rusty metal under his hand. He leaned on it in relief then opened it slowly.

He smelled burned paper. The smell mixed with something else. Someone was there. Spike followed where his nose led him. Into the big room. He stayed at the door.

He saw a man put a bag down and open it. The man used a flashlight to look inside it and pulled out a bowl. The man took something from around his neck and tossed it aside. A mumbling came to Spike's ears, repeating. The man opened a bottle and poured something into the bowl. He lit the liquid on fire then added something that looked like twigs or small bones. He sprinkled a powder, then cut himself on the arm and let the blood drip into the fire.

Spike wrinkled his nose at the smell of blood being burned, wasted.

The man then took some things and, while chanting, held them over the smoke. His hands nearly in the flames, he tied the things together. Holding the tied bundle in his hand, the man backed up, mumbling the chant, leaving the fire to burn itself out. He ran out of the room hardly giving Spike the chance to hide.

Wood could feel something closing in on him the whole time he performed the ritual. Not letting him breathe. He nearly choked on the acrid fumes of the fire but he continued. Then the talisman was finished and he couldn't take it any more - he ran out leaving his protective charm in the dirt. 

To be continued


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Principal Wood And The Manifest Spirits Of Sunnydale High

Author: mispel

E-mail: mispel@email.com

Rating: PG

Summary: Lessons revisited. The truth about how the 'zombies' came to haunt the school and Spike and Wood's involvement in their appearance. Spike has a visit from a juvenile delinquent. Xander tries to piece together some clues. Principal Flutie and Dr. Gregory join the fun.

Spoilers: season 7

Disclaimer: I own none of it. Joss, ME and Fox own all

Feedback: Any comments would be welcome.

A/N: I filled in the blanks to try and explain a few things. Scenes that are not in the fic happened as they did on the show. The timeline is a tiny bit different. 

Principal Wood And The Manifest Spirits Of Sunnydale High

Chapter 4

All Wood had with him was the talisman he had made and his flashlight. The smelly charm that would have kept him safe from the spirits was left behind and he didn't dare go back into that room to get it. There was more he had to do before the manifest spirits were under his control, but right then he couldn't remember what. 

Once out the door of the big room, he found himself in a new corridor branching out in too many directions. He picked a way that his vague sense of direction told him led out. He took only one step and principal Snyder appeared in front of him.

"Where do you think you're going, young man?"

"I have a pass," Wood joked.

Wood was starting to feel a little clearer as the oppressive air of the big room was behind him and the slimy, half digested head of principal Snyder stood out in the dark in front of him. He remembered the rest of the ritual. He held up the talisman ready to break it. He started the chant that would dispel the ghouls as soon as the talisman was broken. But a hand grabbed his arm from behind, squeezing as if trying to dig into his bones. Snyder's grotesque face smiled at his pain. Somehow Wood held onto the talisman and even got an elbow into rotting flesh behind him and set himself loose.

Wood's flashlight had dropped out of his hand. It lay on the floor, out of reach, giving what little light there was. He pressed against a wall and saw that his attacker was a new, familiar face, but not much of it. Flesh had been chewed off, gaping holes in his cheeks stood open to reveal his side teeth. One eye socket stood empty. Ribs and ripped up entrails hung out of his middle. His legs and arms were just gnawed bones. 

"Principal Flutie. Why not? The more the merrier," Wood said feeling like he should have been expecting him.

"Glad you feel that way. Because here at Sunnydale High, we try to be inclusive and accepting of differences, we encourage diversity and..." Flutie droned.

"Stuff it, Flutie!" Snyder snapped at his predecessor.

Wood tried to take advantage of the apparent disagreement but as soon as he started to chant again, they were both on him. He kicked away one then the other and started to get away. 

A sweetly smiling Ms. Calendar blocked his path briefly but he pushed past her. 

As he stumbled down the corridor, he left behind him the small pool of light cast by his flashlight.

The door was gone again. Spike had only stepped inside to hide. Now he was being punished again. 

"No supper. No supper," he mumbled as he walked a tight circle in the middle of the room.

She was in vamp face, leaning casually against one of the walls. 

"Can I bum a smoke?"

Spike kept walking.

"Hey, man! I'm talking to you!"

She moved over and stood nearly in Spike's path. Spike passed very close to her. She stuck out her foot and, to Spike's surprise, she tripped him and he fell. 

"It's the least you owe me. I thought you were cool and you served me up to your crazy, doll playing girlfriend!" Sheila shouted leaning down over him.

"Do you even remember my name? It used to be all over the school walls. I carved it into desks. With a knife. And teachers were too afraid to say anything," she sounded proud as she spoke.

Then she kicked Spike casually.

"I used to sneak down here. And I knew my way around," she boasted, sneering at Spike as he was hunched over with his forehead to the floor.

She walked around him, and kicked his other side.

"I went away for a while. Who would want to stay here if they could go to LA? But I got back for the big ascension. Got myself speared by this kid I cheated off in math." 

She looked down at him again.

"Any of this ring any bells?"

She kicked him a few more times and disappeared.

Spike hadn't looked up at her. There were too many. It was no use trying to place them. But they didn't usually kick.

Once Xander got the stolen plans home and started to look them over, he realized he didn't know what he expected to find. An inscription reading "here there be monsters", pentagrams, secret passageways marked on plans anyone could get their hands on. Maybe the Hellmouth marked with a big, red X. He sighed. Feeling very unqualified, he wished for Willow or Giles, or both. 

Xander wanted more to go on then old plans, vague rumors, and the word of a drunk. The basement didn't used to be any worse than the rest of the school. It had to be something new. He heard a story about some strange guys making a midnight delivery to the basement, but he couldn't trace the story to the source. Some people said they were dressed like special ops, others said they wore dark robes, black suits or ninja outfits. He tired asking discreet questions but there was a lot of the Sunnydale kind of denial going around. There was still one guy he couldn't find. One of the electricians had told him about this Gil guy. He liked to go down into the basement and scavenge for stuff. 

"Gil said it was spooky and you could get lost just like that. Then Gil flicked his damn lighter," the electrician told him. He hadn't liked Gil, suspected him of 'scavenging' some equipment out of his van. "God damn lighter. And the guy didn't even smoke. Ex smoker, gotta keep those hands busy." 

The electrician had mumbled something about Gil being a thief and good riddance. 

Xander remembered the annoying lighter flicking. But not much else about him.

One day Gil just didn't show up for work. That was months ago. Maybe that was nothing more than his informal way of giving a resignation.

Xander turned on some more lights and looked over the plans. He kept at it until his eyes crossed in protest and then he went to bed, hoping he had exhausted himself into dreamless sleep.

As Wood walked blindly down a basement corridor, he started to chant again. He was out of breath and he stumbled over the incantation and cursed.

"They can't touch the talisman," he reminded himself unable to see more than a foot ahead of him in the dark.

"But we can touch you," a man said as he appeared in front of Wood and hit him with his own flashlight.

From the floor, Wood looked up to see him holding the flashlight under his chin. It was really unnecessary since the man would have been just as frightening without it. His face was white, almost as white as his hair. There was something about his features, like they were out of place, as if his face was stretched.

"Looking for this?" The man asked about the flashlight.

"I can't quite place you. Help me out," Wood asked the new spirit and stood up.

"I thought the lab coat would be a dead giveaway. This might help," he spoke mildly.

He then stuck his hand into his neck and pushed his head to the side revealing where it was separated from his body.

"Sorry," Wood said, still not recognizing him.

"But you know all about us. You read all those files and reports," the man mocked.

Then he shone the flashlight at his name sewn on his white coat.

"Dr. Gregory. My apologies," Wood said as his breathing evened out.

"If you drop it you can leave," Dr. Gregory said as he motioned to the talisman. "I'll even show you the way out."

Wood only held tighter to the talisman. He tried to start the chant again, low, under his breath but he was hit in the neck from behind.

He bent over but managed not to fall. It was principal Flutie again.

"The principal always gets it. You're ahead of schedule," Dr. Gregory said looking at his watch.

"Dying on the first day of school. I can't beat that," Flutie said his gouged face managing to look almost sad.

"I was always an overachiever," Wood said positioning himself against the wall again.

Anticipating a fight, Wood put the talisman in the inside pocket of his jacket so he wouldn't lose it.

"This is my school," Snyder growled as he joined them.

"Our school," Flutie corrected him.

Snyder grabbed Wood and pulled, trying to drag him back where he came from. Wood wrenched himself out of his grip but then the science teacher shoved him back. Flutie joined the fun and held Wood by the collar. In his desperation, Wood started to chant and reached for the talisman again but Snyder slammed his arm into the wall. Wood got his other arm free and punched Snyder feeling the slick goo of his face coat his knuckles. He side kicked Flutie and then Gregory quickly and then he ran. 

As Wood grabbed the flashlight off the floor, he nearly fell, but steadied himself and went on as fast as he could. He fumbled for the talisman, but he ran headlong into Flutie and was knocked backward into a door. He fought to recover his breath while trying to get the talisman out of his pocket. He started the chant only to stop when Flutie backhanded him and Snyder got him from the other side. Ms. Calendar's grotesque smile was in front of his face. 

"The boys can't have all the fun," she said as she moved as if to bite him. 

He ducked away from her and hit Flutie in his hollowed out gut and ran.

To be continued 


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Principal Wood And The Manifest Spirits Of Sunnydale High

Author: mispel

E-mail: mispel@email.com

Rating: PG

Summary: How the 'zombies' came to haunt the school and Spike and Wood's involvement in their appearance. Ch5: Spike has another visitor. Xander has an encounter. Wood still can't resist the haunting allure of the basement. Dawn has her own worries about school.

Spoilers: season 7

Disclaimer: I own none of it. Joss, ME and Fox own all

Feedback: Any comments would be welcome.

A/N: Scenes that are not in the fic happened as they did on the show. The timeline is a tiny bit different. 

Principal Wood And The Manifest Spirits Of Sunnydale High

Chapter 5

Spike waited, crouching. After being alone for a while, he straightened a little so that he was sitting in the middle of the room.

A middle aged man walked out of the wall. His head leaned at an odd angle and his glasses were broken.

"We just bought a new house. We weren't even unpacked all the way. Do you know how much a funeral costs? I had kids to put through college. I was saving up," the man ranted not even looking at Spike.

"You should thank me," Spike said as what the man said sounded more dreadful than any death. 

Spike had no idea who the man was. Idly, he wondered if he would be solid like the last one.

"Are you mocking my life, you piece of undead trash?" The man sounded angry as he walked over to stand over Spike.

"Look who's talking," Spike said as a dry chuckle escaped his throat.

The man ground Spike's hand into the floor with his heel. Spike knew the rules were changing. But he couldn't keep up. He hadn't learned the old rules yet.

"I just wanted to meet some of my kids' teachers, see their new school. You had no right! Insulting me and you broke my neck! Real funny. I was a man. What are you?"

Spike liked these new rules better. He was about to stand up, to see if a thing that could hurt him could be hurt back.

But the man was gone.

Xander had woken up out of fitful sleep in the early morning not feeling well rested at all. As he turned on the lamp, its light mixed weakly with the gray light of early dawn. He rolled up the plans he had stolen and dressed quickly. 

When Xander arrived at the school, it looked gloomy and deserted. Only one car was in the parking lot. Having decided to see the basement for himself, Xander was circling around the school toward a side door that would take him inside. He was getting ready to go in when he heard a click and then another one. He turned and a man was standing right behind him. 

"That's where I used to go in," the man said as Xander saw that he had an old cigarette lighter in his hand.

The guy was kind of young to be balding. The flesh on his face was like unbaked dough, like your finger could go right in. He was pale, and his eyes looked strange. Xander wandered if he was on something. He even hoped. Because substance abuse would be reassuring. 

"Gil, right? Long time no see," Xander said.

The guy's timing set off the Sunnydale brand alarm system in Xander's head. They were still out in the open, kept out of view by fresh landscaping, but Xander felt closed in. The early morning's crispness was gone. The air felt too thick to breathe. 

"I couldn't find my way out," Gil said, looking at Xander and not blinking once.

"I hear it's a real maze down there. They should put up a sign or something. 'abandon hope all ye who enter here'," as Xander joked hearing his own voice sounding shaky and hollow.

Gil just kept staring. Xander started to feel queasy looking at him. There was a ringing in his ears. Maybe it was the alarm. Maybe it was because he skipped breakfast.

"You knew this place was a death trap. You didn't warned them," Gil said and his voice remained as bland as his face.

Xander shifted under the unblinking stare. As Xander slid his eyes away, he saw that the lighter was pitted and rusty. Gil must have noticed where he was looking. 

"I found the lighter in a cabinet someone dumped. It's my lucky charm."

When Gil flicked the lighter again, Xander saw that the skin on his fingers was peeling. He started to back away from Gil while trying to look like he wasn't.

"So, what have you been up to?" Xander asked, trying to sound conversational and not panicked.

Then he heard a car pull into the parking lot and turned to look. When he looked back, the guy was gone.

Xander took a few deep breaths. Remembering that he promised to take Dawn to school, that he had a meeting he had to get ready for, oh and that he didn't have any superpowers or weapons bigger than a stake, Xander decided to go home.

Principal Wood had lost his flashlight again. He didn't know which way he was going and his shoulder felt like it was dislocated. Silently promising not to raise any more evil spirits if he ever made it out of there, he stumbled over something hard and hurt his toes. Even though he couldn't see anything, he had no choice but to continue the way he was going. He started the chant again, speaking quickly, knowing that they wouldn't let him finish. Wood brushed his hand against the walls so he wouldn't bump into them or miss a turn. He nearly fell when his hand reached through air. He stopped for a moment. Then followed the turn and continued chanting. 

Nearing the end of the incantation, again he reached for the talisman and Ms. Calander appeared. She grabbed his neck silencing him. A steady "shhhhh" came from her blue lips. Her fingers squeezed until Wood's vision started to turn black. With both his hands he barely dislodged her grip. Shoving her clear of him, he stumbled away. 

His throat wouldn't work. He tried to say the rest of the spell and only strangled whispers came out. He swallowed painfully and knew he would have to start from the beginning. 

Dawn was sitting in class. A blonde teacher was writing on the board in very small, illegible handwriting. Dawn had her hand raised high. 

"Miss, Miss, Miss," she kept saying, trying to get her attention.

All she could see was the back of the teacher's head as she continued to write, not hearing her.

"Miss, I have to go to the bathroom," Dawn blurted out then looked around sheepishly. 

But no one so much as snickered.

Dawn ran out of the classroom. When she couldn't find the bathroom, Dawn started to panic thinking that maybe they forgot to build any. She tried to stop people in the hall to ask them where the bathrooms were, but everyone ignored her. They rudely brushed past her and bumped into her like she wasn't even there. 

Just then, she ended up in the bathroom somehow. As she looked in the mirror, she saw that her hair wasn't smooth so she tried to fix it. Not having a comb, she just used her hands. But that only made it worse. She gave up and went out into the hall again. She tried to get the attention of a passing girl.

"Do you have a comb?"

Everyone stopped and turned.

All eyes were on her. Dawn became painfully aware of her excessively dorky clothes, her big feet, and her big nose, her lank, uncombed hair. Dawn tried to run away but they surrounded her. They pulled her hair. They crowded around her till she couldn't breathe.

"We want to be your friends!" They screamed and Dawn woke up. 

She saw that it was almost time to get up. She flopped back down on the bad and groaned. Then jumped up again when the alarm clock went off.

Walking quickly, feeling all the various hurts from his probably broken toes to his gouged and bruised neck, Wood started to form a theory. Though the spirits could hurt him, the talisman was keeping them from killing him outright. It wasn't a theory he wanted to test. So when he saw a little bit of light, Wood ran toward it and fell over the stairs. He looked up and saw that the light was coming under the door. He tried to open it but he couldn't. As he pushed with all his strength, the door gave way suddenly and he fell through into the school hallway. 

The reddish light of sunrise filtered trough the windows, shining off the new, clean floors. Wood felt safe there. Then he felt a foot connect with his back. He didn't look to see who it was. He just ran finally getting the talisman out of his pocket. As he chanted hoarsely and got ready to break it, all four ghouls appeared ahead of him and more behind them. Wood backed away as their hands reached for his face but he didn't stop chanting. 

Wood was in a bathroom. His bruises made it hard, but he resolved to finally get rid of them and held the talisman in both hands. Just as he finished the chant, the door swung open and several of them rushed him. The talisman flew out of his grasp unbroken and Wood fell through a hole in the floor and landed hard on the floor of the basement. He was alone. When he looked up, he saw that the hole above his head had closed and he passed out.

To be continued


	6. Chapter 6

Title: Principal Wood And The Manifest Spirits Of Sunnydale High

Author: mispel

E-mail: mispel@email.com

Rating: PG

Summary: How the 'zombies' came to haunt the school and Spike and Wood's involvement in their appearance. Ch 6: On the first day of school Buffy can't let go. The First visits Spike in the form of Angelus. 

Spoilers: season 7

Disclaimer: I own none of it. Joss, ME and Fox own all

Feedback: Any comments would be welcome.

A/N: Scenes that are not in the fic happened as they did on the show. The timeline is a tiny bit different. 

Principal Wood And The Manifest Spirits Of Sunnydale High

Chapter 6

Wood opened his eyes. He only vaguely remembered the fall. The back of his head felt heavy and numb until he touched it. Then it hurt.

"Good going, Principal Wood, get killed by zombies on the first day of school, good job," Wood berated himself as he got up from the basement floor with difficulty. Really, he felt grateful he was still alive.

Noticing that the basement wasn't as dark now, he figured that the lights must have kicked in. It was morning and the school would be starting in a few hours. Remembering the talisman, Wood looked all around him, hoping that it had made it down there with him. But he already suspected it hadn't. Wood groaned as he went in search of the exit again.

As she waited for Dawn to come down the stairs, Buffy thought about her first days of school. Rushing to get ready, choosing the right outfit for herself for the first time. Mom giving her the lunch she would take to school, telling her not to eat just the snack. How nervous her stomach used to be so she wouldn't be able to eat her cereal making Mom lecture her about the importance of a good breakfast. The way her feet didn't used to reach the floor when she sat at the kitchen table and she kicked them in her nervousness and impatience. All the little speeches her Mom gave her to be good and pay attention to the teacher and ... Buffy wished she could remember better. Instead, all those times blended together: when her Mom still picked out her clothes, when her Dad walked her to school, when her Mom drove her to school, when Dad held her hand and took her to her classroom for the first time and she didn't want to let go. The time she spilled orange juice on her new skirt and she cried. The eagerness to make friends right away. 

Those small desks had seemed so big then. It had all been so enormous and frightening. And there was no Hellmouth, just kids and teachers.

She closed her eyes and pictured her Mom. Ready for work, she would yell for Dawn to hurry up or they would be late.

Buffy yelled for Dawn to hurry up.

Watching for any spirits or humans in the hallway, Wood got through the basement door. The spirits seemed to have lost interest in him since he lost the talisman as he didn't see any on his way. There was pale morning light filling the hallway. As Wood went toward his office, he heard footsteps and tensed. It was one of the assistant principals arriving to work. 

"Principal Wood!" She exclaimed, surprised by his appearance. "I hardly recognized you. This is so unlike you. What happened?" 

Taking in his disheveled and dirty clothes, she looked at him with a mixture of concern and disapproval.

"Ah, I fell. I was at the construction area, I fell."

"What were you...?" She started to ask but Wood cut her off.

"Excuse me, I have to go and change."

Wood practically ran to his office for the change of clothes. He knew he wouldn't get two feet without attracting attention and having to explain why he wasn't his usual dapper self.

Once in his office, Wood tried to get his bearings. It was all a blur. He had finished the incantation, he was almost completely sure of that. He tried to remember where he was when he fell through the floor. A bathroom. But his head was swimming and he couldn't figure out which one.

Sitting slumped against the wall, Spike tried not to react when it appeared. That was best.

"Why do you want to drag yourself around with that thing?" Angelus asked strolling through the room.

The voice grated on Spike's nerves. 

"What good did it ever do anyone?" 

"You're not him," Spike said as a reminder to himself more than anything. It didn't help. Angel was so irritating, and Spike couldn't squelch the hope that things were different now that his tormentors were getting physical. He felt a little of his old self wake up inside him.

New plan. Spike stood up. Time to see if the new rules went both ways. Spike stalked over to him and swung his fist. It went through the air and sent him off balance a little. Spike staggered back to his place, defeated as Angel's derisive chuckle rang in his ears.

"You don't know what it's all about, Spikey."

But Spike thought he was starting to figure it out, adding things up in his head. That ritual he had seen and... Then Angelus turned his back and it was her. Her hair was falling down her back and swinging to one side when she faced him.

"You like me better now?"

Spike turned away.

"Oh, no. It hurts. It hurts, doesn't it?" She said with fake, exaggerated sympathy.

His eyes were wide as he stared at the wall. She leaned over, close behind him. He thought he felt her breath on his neck. But he knew it couldn't be.

"Not her," he mumbled as another reminder not to believe, or maybe a plea.

"I don't have to be her. I just show you a snapshot and you turn into jelly."

"I'm alone. I'm alone."

She laughed and the sound bounced off the walls like hail on glass.

"You're never alone. Not ever. I'm always with you. I'll never leave you. And if you're good, I'll tell you a little secret."

She straightened.

"Maybe later," she said flippantly. 

She blew him a kiss and left.

Spike crawled over to a wall and cradled his hand. There was a bubbling in the back of his brain, like a dark vapor rising, boiling up. He started to beat the side of his head against the wall.

Wood took the time to greet the students as he was expected to. Most of his bruises were hidden by his clothes. He worried about his neck but the collar hid most of the damage. All that he had to do now was destroy the talisman. Once he got his hands on it. He hoped it was in one of the restrooms he hadn't checked and that someone hadn't taken it. And that the spirits wouldn't kill him now that he didn't have the talisman's protection.

The last of the stragglers were going inside now and Wood was about to go back to look for the talisman when he saw her. Buffy Summers escorted her sister into the school. Wood noticed how small she was, even shorter than her younger sister. But she was a slayer - he found it hard to believe. Everything he knew everything he had read about in that unprepossessing, blonde package. He introduced himself and pretended to mistake her for Dawn's mother. Mainly so that she wouldn't realize he already knew who she was, and partly just to mess with her. 

Sure, the principal was a feast for the eyes. She pictured principal/sister conferences in her future. Except Buffy wanted to grab Dawn and take her back home. Especially after what Xander told them about the strange guy hanging around the school. Dawn didn't need an education - she could just look things up on the internet. As Buffy thought about all the things that could be in there waiting for Dawn, all her warnings sounded weak and silly. She had sent her off with a toothpuck to go fight vampires and god knows what else. Why didn't Dawn look properly terrified? She was more concerned that Buffy was cramping her style. When had she become the uncool parental figure?

When Dawn finally went inside, Buffy just couldn't make herself leave like any normal person. She just couldn't shake the feeling that she was supposed to be there. She went inside. If this crazy place was standing again then she had to be there and hover and loiter and maybe get arrested for trespassing.

To be continued


	7. Chapter 7

Title: Principal Wood And The Manifest Spirits Of Sunnydale High

Author: mispel

E-mail: mispel@email.com

Rating: PG

Summary: How the 'zombies' came to haunt the school and Spike and Wood's involvement in their appearance. Ch 7: Wood can't catch a break. Spike relives the past. Buffy sees Spike. Xander goes on a guilt trip.

Spoilers: season 7

Disclaimer: I own none of it. Joss, ME and Fox own all

Feedback: Any comments would be welcome.

A/N: In my little version of the BtVS universe, the AR did not happen. That's why Spike is not appearing in this fic as a pile of dust. Instead, Spike attacked Buffy and bit her, as vampires do from time to time. 

Scenes that are not in the fic happened as they did on the show. The timeline is a tiny bit different. 

Principal Wood And The Manifest Spirits Of Sunnydale High

Chapter 7

When Xander arrived at the meeting, he couldn't help but glance guiltily at the office where the plans were kept. He knew it would take them a while to notice the theft but he still worried. He really didn't want to get fired. He planned to get them back in place before that. 

Seeing the students streaming into the school, Xander had tried to distinguish Dawn from the rest, but couldn't. There were too many kids to count. Except for Dawn, they were all strangers. But he knew their nervous first day stomachs. How their eyes were extra open trying to take in all the new faces, trying to pick out future friends from the crowd. Now they were all packed in there worrying about how they looked and if they would get homework the first day. Not about demons that could be sizing them up for ritual disemboweling at that very moment. Getting fired just didn't seem as important when he thought about things like that.

One of the other suits at the meeting had been saying something and Xander hoped it wasn't anything important because he wasn't listening.

Spike's head ached where he had been hitting it against the wall. He felt closed in. The darkness around him seemed dense, like he could touch it. But he didn't want to. He just sat still trying to take up as little space as possible. 

Spike never knew when it would happen. Like a lost pin, hiding in the dark, waiting to stick him. It was the worst of all his visions. Always the same, never varying from the way it happened. Spike saw himself stalking toward her house, lightheaded from drink and his daring plan. 

The plan wasn't new and it wasn't set in stone. Maybe she would finally look at him and see him. But if she didn't he knew a way to open her eyes. 

Spike saw his other self, but to him Spike was not even a shadow as he tried to run after him and stop him. He couldn't move him. But he heard every though as if it came from a gramophone, a scratchy record playing over and over again. 

She didn't understand that every good deed was a bloody miracle. All in her name. She didn't get it. But she would. She couldn't know him as she was. So judgmental, holding herself so far above him. It was all that light, it was blinding her. If he pulled her into the darkness, then she could see him. He would stand out better. He would give her new eyes to see him with. 

Spike tried to tell him it wouldn't work but his voice wasn't even a whisper.

But part of him just wanted her blood and nothing more. The only person he could bite and he was holding himself back. And she didn't even appreciate it. He hoped she would be the same as always and reject him. So he could finally sink his fangs into her. How much better it would be if that was all there was to him. If that was all he wanted. 

Spike was tethered to his old self. Walking behind like a dog, following every step he had once taken. Her house loomed in the dark and he tried to hold back. But he was pulled inside mercilessly and made to watch.

Worst of all was the taste of her blood when he bit her. That always brought him out of it, sitting helplessly in the basement as the past played on and on.

Principal Wood waited until the halls were clear then went to search the remaining restrooms. Only to find Buffy Summers wandering the halls. Her suspicion was obvious, so he told her a little bit of the truth. He had read her file. He just didn't tell her which one.

He was tempted to ask for her help. But maybe he didn't need it. He was so close. One more step and it would be over.

Wood was relieved when she got a strange phone call and scampered off. But when he got to the next ladies' room, he found her going there in front of him. 

"Damn it."

After jumping trough the hole and a frantic search through the basement, Buffy was standing at the door that hadn't seemed to be there before. The zombie things wanted to keep her away from it and Buffy wanted to believe that she had found Dawn. When she opened the door she saw him instead. She thought he might be one of them. Or maybe hoped. But she knew better than that.

"You came back?" Buffy asked with disbelief, but no real surprise. She knew he had the nerve to show up again.

For a moment after seeing Spike, Buffy forgot about the zombies until a pipe hit her on the back. She fought them then decided to regroup. She got into the room with Spike. He cringed away from her and talked nonsense.

"You should not have come back," she told him just in case he didn't know where they stood with each other now.

Buffy didn't know what to do. Though her whole body was tense at the memory of the attack, she didn't have time for him. And he was acting crazy. She saw that his chest was cut up. What he said told her he had done it himself. She pushed aside his shirt for a better look. The cuts were already mostly healed. They had been deep. But what did that mean to a vampire?

"What is this? Is this supposed to convince me of something? Try harder," she bit out the words.

His expression had been bland, now his face twisted.

"I know. But I lost the knife," he lamented sounding like a child about to cry.

Buffy shook her head. It had to be an act. It just didn't seem like him. And it didn't matter. He didn't rate. She had to find Dawn.

"What do you know about those things?"

He mumbled something, it didn't sound relevant so she got closer and almost yelled.

"The zombies. What do you know?"

Her phone rang again and she was so relived to hear Dawn's voice.

Wood had waited outside the restroom for a while, keeping away from the door so he wouldn't look like a pervert. Buffy didn't come out. Realizing that the ghouls might have gotten her, he rushes in.

"Buffy!" 

She wasn't there. Just as he spotted the talisman on the counter, a figure rushed at him from a corner.

"You aren't supposed to be here! This is the ladies room!" Ms. Calander screamed as she pushed him out the door.

He landed outside. Looking up, he saw Ms. Calander, her hair falling forward so he couldn't see her face.

"So rude," she said and was gone.

Snyder and Flutie appeared in front of him. 

"You should be ashamed of yourself, you perv," Snyder scolded him.

"That is not appropriate behavior. Your presence in the little girl's room could be misconstrued..."

"Oh, shut up!" Wood told them as he got up.

He then tried to barrel past them into the ladies room. It didn't work - they caught him. Then more of them appeared. They all pulled at him, in every direction as if trying to rip him apart. Then they were gone. Wood was out of breath as a janitor pushed his cart past him. He realized that the man's appearance probably saved his life. In the struggle he had been shoved just down the hall from the ladies' room, but the janitor busied himself right there. Not wanting to look even more suspicious, Wood walked away planning to come back once the janitor was gone.

Spike looked at her. She had been different. So angry. Almost fooled him. She had asking him something. But he wasn't being helpful and she got even more angry.

"If you know anything and you're not telling me, if your insane act gets Dawn killed..."

Spike heard a noise that came out of his chest - it sounded like a small animal was trapped in there. 

Then she was talking on the phone. There was never a phone before. Maybe this time it was really her. He wanted to claw out his eyes so they would stop fooling him. 

Spike heard his voice say something that sounded far away. Like someone in another dark room talking. Someone who was sane. He told her things, about the talisman. Things he had figured out. He wanted to tell her more but the voice got farther away and after a while Spike couldn't hear it. 

Then it didn't matter if she was real, because she was gone.

Xander got a lot of phone calls during the day. He answered his cell phone casually, only half listening. Until he recognized Buffy's voice speaking very quickly. Closing the other ear so he could hear better, he moved away from the noisy work and listened closely. 

He was already walking to the school briskly, trying to picture the location of the bathroom she was describing. Once she hung up he started to run. It wasn't his nightmare, but he still felt like his fears about the school were coming in ahead of schedule.

Xander ran through the front doors, slowing down only a little when he went past a stern looking staff member. Hoping to keep her off his back with a hurried "official construction business", he rushed away. 

"You didn't tell us we would die." 

It was a chorus of voices, sounding rough as if coming from long unused throats. Xander was faced with a large group of dead looking kids. He recognized a lot of faces. Larry at the front. They were the kids from the Mayor's ascension he had recruited to fight. 

"Actually I'm pretty sure I mentioned that was one of the possible side effects," Xander said as he started to walk backwards.

They just stood there as if they were a mute accusation. Many of them had ripped out throats, broken limbs. One of them was missing the top of his head. Xander wondered how that had happened as he ran back and took another corridor. He found them again popping up in his way one at a time. Rushing past them, he took a few hits from each and got shoved to the floor. But he had no time to reminisce about the good old days. He got up and tried to keep them off him. In his haste, he almost went right past the bathroom. For a moment, he mistook the janitor for one of the dead guys. But then he realized it was just that the man's not so good looks fell on the rugged side. Repeating his "official construction business" mantra to the janitor, Xander went into the forbidden and mysterious realm of the ladies' room. 

to be continued


	8. Chapter 8

Title: Principal Wood And The Manifest Spirits Of Sunnydale High

Author: mispel

E-mail: mispel@email.com

Rating: PG

Summary: How the 'zombies' came to haunt the school and Spike and Wood's involvement in their appearance. Ch 8: Dawn considers her place in the scheme of things. Xander and Wood meet under suspicious circumstances. Buffy gets a cryptic message. The end.

Spoilers: season 7

Disclaimer: I own none of it. Joss, ME and Fox own all

Feedback: Any comments would be welcome.

A/N: Scenes that are not in the fic happened as they did on the show. The timeline is a tiny bit different. 

Principal Wood And The Manifest Spirits Of Sunnydale High

Chapter 8 

Buffy rushed through the basement ignoring the accusations of the dead guys, most of whom she hardly even recognized. She hated the reminders of all the people she didn't save, but she couldn't wallow in guilt while Dawn was in danger. So she just shoved them aside, fought her way through them. 

"You just couldn't bring yourself to do it."

Buffy knew the voice. It was Ms Calendar and Buffy stopped. Her voice was the same, kind of mellow but the words had an edge. She didn't look the same though as she stood in Buffy's way. Buffy told herself that it was just a something dead and decomposed pretending to be her.

"Again," Ms Calendar said significantly, finishing her thought. She smiled with her head too far to one side so that she looked at Buffy sideways.

Buffy was glad that the bad lighting in the basement wouldn't let her see better. She didn't need a close up. 

"Can we do this later? I'll pencil you in," Buffy said as she moved forward pretending that she was as easy to brush off as the others. Buffy got ready to fight her way past her. But Ms Calendar wasn't there. Buffy was about to go on when she heard her again.

"Who is going to have to die this time before you get around to doing your job?" Ms Calendar spoke from behind her. "Take your time, I don't mind. It's crowded down here, but a few more fresh corpses would really dress up the place."

Buffy didn't stop this time. She wasn't going to consider those words. Because no one was going to die.

Despite all the dire warnings, somewhere in Dawn's mind she had hoped that the new school wouldn't be like the old one. But the school didn't look so new down here. The basement smelled like things rotting. She knew that they had just put up a new facade on an old, evil place. 

The two kids with Dawn, Carlos and Kit, had this look in their eyes, like this couldn't be real. They still hoped it was all a nice 'I'll wake up any minute and feel stupid' nightmare. Dawn knew it was real. She knew about these kinds of things but it just didn't do any good. It wasn't enough to know a little bit. She didn't know enough to be the smart one, like Willow.

When the zombies surrounded them, Dawn tried to use what Buffy had taught her, but as always, something was missing. Things never worked for her the way they were supposed to. Her makeshift weapon was too heavy. Dawn felt the responsibility of protecting herself and two others and failing. She wasn't Buffy. She wasn't the strong one. 

As she faced the zombies so ineffectually without anything funny to say, she knew she wasn't even Xander. She was like the rest - some helpless ninny waiting to be rescued. Buffy's words came back to her, she wouldn't always be there, it was about power and she didn't have it. 

Except Buffy was there in the next moment, making good use of the weapon Dawn had made. 

Principal Wood had taken the time to go to his office and grab one of the larger knives from his collection. One that wasn't so large it couldn't still be hidden under his jacket. He didn't really expect it to do much good against the spirits, but trying to beat them back with his charm and good looks hadn't worked so far. 

Seeing the janitor rolling his cart away from the bathroom, Wood rushed in there. He burst through the door and reached for the knife he had hidden in the back of his belt. Only to find a dark haired, young man holding the broken talisman. After a moment of confusion, Wood recognized him as one of Buffy's friends who worked on the construction site. Wood got over his shock quickly, took his hand away from the knife and assumed an official, disapproving stance.

"What are you doing in the ladies' room?" Wood said in his coolest, school principal voice.

"I..." Xander stammered and stuffed the broken talisman into his pocket.

"Oh, the hole. The big hole in the floor. That's why I'm here. Someone could fall in," Xander explained sounding inappropriately cheerful about it.

"And how much is this going to cost?" Wood said trying to sound like he cared.

"Not as much as a lawsuit if someone falls in," Xander pointed out and left hurriedly, brushing past Wood to get through the door.

Wood stared down into the hole and saw nothing. He sighed at the thought of having to traverse the basement again to make sure they were really gone. After everything he went through, he felt a twinge of unbefitting disappointed that the construction guy got the big finish. 

As he walked the halls, Wood saw Buffy and her sister plus two other kids getting out of the basement door. Buffy talked to them for a while then the kids left. Wood had planned to keep her close anyway, but now he saw how much he needed her on premises. If he spent all his time chasing demons and whatever else came crawling out from the basement, he would be fired in no time. That was her job description anyway.

He searched his memory for the names of the other two kids then he approached her. Flattering her, Wood exaggerated about them. They weren't that bad, skipped a few times, a few detentions, that's all, but he had to sell this. Buffy must have wanted it too, because she believed him and took his job offer. 

Wood felt almost cheerful. That wasn't so hard. One crisis averted, a million to go. No problem. 

Oh God, he needed a nap so badly.

Xander left the ladies' room with renewed suspicion about the principal. Xander had been too eager to cover for himself, he had forgotten to ask the principal what he was doing barging in there. And what kind of principal was that smooth and handsome? He didn't fit the principal mold long established by Xander's torturous school experience. There was the old matronly mold of his elementary and middle school principals - fine ladies both, and the middle aged guy mold of Flutie and Snyder. There was no male model handsome mold for school administrators. There had to be evil at work there.

Dawn felt an almost giddy feeling of relief as she walked down the hall. And that wasn't all. The feeling was shared. Two kids were with her, in the thick of it, and they all got out alive, together. Now they shared something, a bond, a... 

As soon as they were out of Buffy's sight, Carlos stopped and Dawn and Kit looked at him.

"I don't buy what your mom..." Carlos started to say.

"Sister," Dawn corrected him not finding the mistake as much fun without Buffy there to hear it.

"Whatever. I don't buy her sticking together bull. I have a better plan. I stay the hell away from you two."

Dawn gaped for a moment. For a little while she thought she wouldn't be alone in this. The feeling of camaraderie she thought they had shared disappeared with just a few words.

"They came after you too. She saved your butt."

Dawn knew how it was. Buffy wasn't going to get the key to the city or a statue somewhere or any kind of public credit. But the least Dawn expected was for the people her sister actually, personally saved to show a little gratitude. Dawn fumed and Carlos didn't seem to notice. She wished some of those zombies would pop back out and see how smug he was then.

"OK, my plan is I stay away from you two and I stay out of the basement. No offense, but I am going to be on the basketball team and I'm planning on hanging out with people who aren't weirdoes," Carlos said as if simply pointing out the most rational course of action could erase everything that happened. Then he walked away from them.

Dawn was stunned for a moment. Her anger had kept her from saying all the things she wanted to say to him, and everyone like him. But as he left she just started to feel let down and sad. 

Kit shrugged. Dawn turned to her, waiting for the other shoe.

"So..." Kit said. She seemed to be waiting too.

"I think it's your turn to make a speech about how you don't want to hang out with a weirdo," Dawn said resigned, feeling more ready for this one.

"Actually, weirdoes are kind of my thing. No offense," Kit said and smirked.

Dawn let out a sort of half laugh half snort out of happy surprise.

"Oh, then, you'll love me," Dawn said grinning.

They walked on together and Dawn had a little bit of that good feeling back. 

That evening, Buffy was looking at the list of supplies Dawn had left on the kitchen counter. 

"Did we have to get a scientific calculator?" She asked Xander.

He had come over with Chinese takeout. Too much Chinese takeout. Now he was putting the leftovers in the refrigerator.

"Not me. Maybe Willow. Sounds like one of them smart kids thingamabobs like the protractor and the ruler," Xander joked.

Buffy shrugged.

"Shopping trip!" Buffy said trying to look on the positive side. But she knew it wouldn't be the fun kind of shopping, especially on their budget.

"So, I tried to track down this Gil guy. No one has seen him since he disappeared. His girlfriend thinks he ran off with a stripper or something. His Mom hasn't even heard from him," Xander told her.

"But you saw him and you're sure it was him."

"I am almost positive."

"Dawn and I saw some people no one has heard from in a while," Buffy pointed out.

She realized what she said applied to Spike. Buffy's eyes were still on the list as she was getting ready to tell Xander about him. 

"Did you leave off the 'don't go down into the basement' warning?" Xander asked as he offered her a soda.

"I told her to stay away from jocks," Buffy said defensively.

"That's an important one too."

"Anyway, Dawn didn't go down to the basement. She fell in," Buffy said in her sister's defense. 

It wasn't like Dawn could do everything right and get out of that place unscathed. It didn't work that way. Evil things come after you. They don't just wait for people stupid enough to go into basements.

"They should have filled in that place with cement," Xander said sounding very serious about it.

"I say, back up the cement truck," Buffy agreed.

It wasn't the worst idea. It would solve a few of her problems. Buffy hadn't decided what to do about Spike yet. So she didn't mention him.

After some restless turning in bed, Buffy sank into a warm, comfortable darkness until Willow's voice came to her.

"I have a secret to tell you," Willow said.

A strong wind was blowing down the long, school hallway and Buffy's clothes and hair were rippling from it. Willow looked like she did months before. Her eyes looked like someone had spilled ink into them. Her hair was black. Black veins stood out on her white skin. The wind didn't seem to touch her.

"You know me," Willow said and her voice was clear despite the roar of the wind.

Buffy opened her mouth to speak, but the wind stole her breath. 

"You can't fight me."

The wind was hot now and it burned her. Buffy couldn't breathe. Willow smiled at her with compassion. Buffy felt her skin burn, then her flesh. She felt her bones weaken. Like precariously balanced sticks, they fell and broke into pieces.

Buffy woke up shaking and out of breath. She took a few minutes to recover then she phoned England. Just to make sure. 

The end


End file.
